10/10/10
Cleaning up the soccer field this afternoon ended up getting cancelled so Cara (Team Brady) and I ended up going for a run. It’s amazing how much it improves your mood, I know this in America but it seems magnified here. Then we went to church and I was able to share my testimony. With Paul as the translator (and Paul warned us that he’s not actually a translator) it had to be shorter than normal. I focused on Isaiah 5:20-22. I started out by saying that that was how I used to live my life, but that through Christ Jesus I am no longer the same person. Praise God, I was so happy to be able to share this with others. Ashley later told me that she could see the joy in my face about being able to share my experience with Christ to everyone and that I started beaming like a happy little chipmunk. I also shared Isaiah 5:18 because it seemed like a perfect verse to represent an image that I had received from Christ at training camp (go back and look at that blog from training camp under Preparation if you’re not sure what I’m referring to).
During the service when I shared my testimony we were called to the front of the church and the locals were called to grab an Americano. This man came up to me and they were told to pray for me. He prayed, I understood occasional words (Jesu Christo, Dios, salvacion). He started to tell me something at the end of the service but I didn’t really understand so he brought over Hilda, Paul’s fiancee, who speaks a little English. He had her tell me that he saw me and had a vision of me working with los ninos (the children) in the Congo, Africa. That’s pretty specific. It was exciting to have him tell me something like that, but my initial reaction is that I don’t want to go to the Congo – I’m not sure why, to be honest I don’t think I could tell you anything about the Congo. I guess this is something I’ll be praying about. His name is Ronny and I will be keeping him in my prayers. He also told me that I should call my mother, no joke, so I will, soon. He also told me that she has been faithful in praying for me; I know this is true but how cool is it to have someone from Guatemala who doesn’t know you tell you that! Praise God! Gloria Dios!
10/11/10
This morning we went to the bar district in town. We were told that the discoteca – bar district – is different than in Estados Unidos (the states). Paul explained that men basically go to the bar to get drunk and then pick up prostitutes and sleep with them. If you call yourself a Christian and live in Guatemala you simply do not drink and it is even considered taboo to spend time in the bar district for Christians. So we went and prayed in the bar district. Kevin and Edgar are local contacts at the ministry who have been driving us around and accompanying us on many of our trips and they tried their best to help translate for us. So with our three guys and those two guys we had five men and ten women and we made sure that when we walked there were men in the lead and men in the back. It’s just not something I normally have to think about – walking order – but it is muy importante here in certain areas.
We started praying outside the bar (later we talked about how strange it must have seemed and how weird it would be to see a group of foreigners back at home praying for a dive bar in a sketchy part of town), and people just started coming to us. It is in a very poor neighborhood and most of the roofs and walls are made from scraps of tin and aluminum. Mothers kept coming to us and asking us to pray for their children. Then some of the guys in the bar started coming out. One man came up to me and a group of three other World Racers and immediately started crying. I’m pretty sure he was crying out to God and he got down on his hands and knees and asked us to pray for him telling us that he had a life of pain and drinking. How cool is that? All we did was go there and pray and people were coming out of the bar crying and allowing us to pray with them. In broken Spanglish we tried to offer hope and healing and provided a listening ear. Praise God for this awesome experience.
I’m starting to hear about some of the struggles of my teammates with getting used to the area and getting used to the idea that we are going to be “here” for 10 1/2 more months. I feel like I am currently in a good place and I don’t seem to share their sentiments. It seems overwhelming when I consider just how long 10 1/2 months is but I’m not trying to look at it that way. I’m trying to make the most of each day, live in the present, have a positive attitude and have no regrets. When I was younger and lacking in coping skills I found many destructive ways to dissociate. There are chunks of my memory missing because I was always trying to escape. This journey is a very rare, once in a lifetime journey and I want to remember all of it. I realize that I have the option to choose my attitude and I want to bring God glory.
It struck me the other day that this is our job for the year. How awesome is that? I get to spend about an hour broken up in various chunks reading the Word, I get to spend time praising and worshipping the Lord with close brothers and sisters and with local brothers and sisters. I get to spend hours each day praying. This is such a gift, such a blessing. I received a compliment today and I’m trying to write down the compliments that I receive so that I can mediate on them when I’m in a difficult place and Brooks, my team leader, told me that it is clear that I’m always trying to bring out the best in others. That is very kind of him to say and I pray that I will continue to do so.
We are also trying to figure out our spiritual gifts as a team. Brooks on several occasions has mentioned that “without a doubt” I have the gift of discernment. If someone reading this knows more about the gift of discernment could you please send me a message about it so that I can learn more.
Along with all of these events, we also had free time, so Cara and I went on another run – the countryside is so beautiful. Then we had time for the two teams to share testimonies with each other and I was able to which helped in the team bonding process. And we got to end the evening with another game of soccer in an “indoor” field. It’s not actually inside, but there is turf and it is surrounded by cement seats and has really high fences surrounding it – it was a blast! I’m seriously considering joining a team when I return. I am also very thankful that I know and enjoy soccer because I have a feeling I will be playing a lot more of it during the rest of this trip.
That’s all for now!
